NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1049, 11 January 1913, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

Miss Stead, a daughter of the late W. T. Stead, asserts that she has received a message from her dead father stating that he is working hard for the promotion of peace in the Near East. Untrammelled by his physical body, he is able to move here, there and everywhere. The message concludes, “Don’t imagine that the Turk has left Europe yet,”

The French Courts have just decided that when an automobile tyre “bursts” it is the influence of a “higher power” in the sense of the French law, which frees the perpetrator of auy injury from responsibility for damages caused. A touring car “burst” a tyre and crashed into a store window. A lawsuit followed, and the storekeeper lost, because the “higher power” clause was applied.

“The last word of the Eastern Question,” said Lord Derby 35 years ago, “is who is to have Constantinople ?” In the many pages I then wrote on this vexed question (says Mme. Novikoff, in a letter to The Times), I ventured the following suggestion—namely, “the conversion of Constantinople into a free city under the guarantee of Europe, governed by an International Commission.” Would net that be a solution of what now seems likely to be the question of the day ?

An accident of an unusual nature occurred in Grauity (West Coast) lately. Two women were conversing in the back yard of premises adjacent to the cricket field, when a ball, struck with great force, travelling a distance of 100 yards or more, crossing the road and the house, struck one of the women on the head, causing her to fall senseless to the ground. The doctor’s services were immediately called, and it was found necessaiy to insert two stitches to repair the gash caused by the blow of the ball. The victim had a bad time for a day or two, but is now making an excellent recovery.

Delegates to tbe Teachers’ Conference were greatly interested in an invention of one of their number, Mr T. Thomas, of Eltbam. The invention, which was inspected by delegates, comprised a full-sized model of an improved form of school desk. One of the best features of the structure is that it is a single-seater, thus ensuring that the pupil may work undisturbed, talking and copying being reduced to a minimum. It contains a box for books, instead of shelving. It has a self-raising seat, and has a wooden support for the student’s back. The top is adjustable, and can be made level for freehand and geometrical drawing. An attempt has been made by Mr Thomas to incorporate in this model all the best points of the latest English and American patterns. Sixty-five of tbe desks have been in use in the EUham school for the last three months.